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| LOUIS T. BENEZET AWARD RECIPIENT
1990 |
Reuben S. Trinidad '62
This country needs more Reuben Trinidads. At a time when we share a deep
concern for the quality of education and fell helpless about affecting
change, we are given hope by Reuben Trinidad. Now the superintendent of
the Delano Union High School District in California, Dr. Trinidad came
to the nation's attention when he successfully transformed the educational
priorities of a seemingly doomed school.
In 1982, he took over as principal at San Jose's Willam C. Overfelt High
School, a school in such serious trouble that the district considered
closing it. In the ensuing years, the new principal attacked the problems
of vandalism, drugs, and absenteeism while creating an effective team
of parents and teachers determined to make learning a priority in the
troubled school.
In 1984, the U.S. Department of Justice selected Overfelt High as one
of four "Outstanding Effective Turn-Around High Schools" in
the nation.
The National School Safety Center chose Reuben as one of only ten "Principals
of Leadership" and the City of San Jose presented him with its Supervisors'
Recognition Award in 1986 for his role as a catalyst in making his school
a safe and secure place to learn.
But the work was not done. Overfelt students continued to improve their
California Assessment Program test scores every year. In 1988, the school
received the California Distinguished High School Recognition Award for
the high quality of its classroom instruction, parental involvement, campus
culture, and the educational leadership of Reuben Trinidad.
A Pueblo native who began his teaching career at North Junior High in
Colorado Springs following his graduation from Colorado College, Dr. Trinidad
now faces the challenge of leading an entire school district.
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